


What You Want (is right in front of you)

by Icarus (Slickarus)



Category: Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: Bobby Maler he's a mystical demigod or something, Halloween Curses, Hanschen has a crush on Bowser, Just as weird as it sounds but you'll like it I swear, M/M, Magic, The Supernatural, transformations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 12:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12581544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slickarus/pseuds/Icarus
Summary: It's Halloween and Ernst can't decide what to dress as - until Hanschen picks a costume for him. Unfortunately, said costume has some...side effects. What's a boy to do?





	What You Want (is right in front of you)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, yes. You read those relationship tags correctly. I don't know quite how it happened, but Hanschen has a crush on Bowser. Also, once again, I am utilizing Bobby Maler's supernatural abilities in my Halloween fic.  
> Happy Halloween!

At this point, Hanschen shouldn’t be surprised about how many of his stories start with a bet. This was definitely the weirdest one, though.

Hanschen and Ernst were sitting on the Robels’ back porch on a day that could only be described as quintessentially autumnal. The yard was lit up by the fierce reds and oranges of leaves, and the still-green grass was dotted with half-raked piles that were begging to be jumped into. The air smelled damp and woody, and the sky was completely clear. It all looked very fake.

Hanschen, however, was not focusing on the über-picturesque landscape, as he was busy tending to his boyfriend, who sighed loudly and put his head in his hands.

“That’s it; I’ve lost all my power to think.”

“Come on, you’re being dramatic.”

“No, I’m being perfectly reasonable. I’ve built my entire college application on my ability to be creative, and I can’t even come up with a Halloween costume.”

“You could just let me pick for you.”

“Hanschen, I love you, but for the thousandth time, I will not dress up as Bowser.” Hanschen laughed and even Ernst’s smile cracked a bit in the corners of his mouth. Hanschen had joked about Ernst dressing as Bowser every year they’d been together.

“Okay, okay,” Hanschen said. “But you have to admit, dressing as Bowser is better than dressing as nothing.” Ernst quirked an eyebrow.

“Are you trying to seriously convince me?”

“Why not? Dressing like a video game character isn’t weird. Remember when Otto and Georg were Wario and Waluigi?” Ernst laughed.

“I try to forget about that. And it’s not the idea of dressing as a video game character that I don’t like. I don’t like that you only want me to dress as Bowser because you have a big fat crush on him.”

Hanschen’s cheeks turned as red as the autumn leaves surrounding them. “I do not.”

“Do too. Remember when you intentionally lost the last level of Super Mario just so you could hear Bowser in the cutscene again? Or when we played Super Smash Brothers that one time and when Moritz picked Bowser you had to leave the room because you had a -”

“I did not have a boner!” Hanschen protested like he always did when Ernst told this story. “I just really needed to pee. It was a pure coincidence!”

“Okay, sure. You can tell yourself that.”

“I will tell myself that because it’s the truth. No one else will vouch for you.”

Ernst paused for a moment to look at his boyfriend. “Tell you what. Let’s make a bet.”

“I’m listening.”

“If I call Georg right now and he doesn’t know about your crush on Bowser, I’ll be whatever you want for Halloween.”

“That’s not fair, Georg knows everything. I’m pretty sure his glasses give him x-ray vision.”

“So you don’t want to see me dressed up as Bowser?”

“What do I have to do if he knows?”

“I get to pick your Halloween costume,” Ernst said cryptically. This could go either way. On one hand, Ernst might try to embarrass him, and since Ernst knew pretty much everything about him, it wouldn’t be very difficult. On the other hand, Ernst  _ was _ going to have to be with him for all of Halloween, so whatever he picked couldn’t be so horrible. Plus, Hanschen might get to see his boyfriend dressed up like the Koopa King.

“Deal. Call Zirschnitz.”

The phone rang for a few tense seconds before they heard the other end pick up, followed by Georg’s fumbling voice.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hey, Georg, it’s Ernst.”

_ “Yeah, I know. I’ve got caller ID.” _

“Oh, right. Listen, I have a weird question to ask you.”

_ “If it has anything to do with the egg thing, it wasn’t me. I don’t know why Melchior keeps saying that.” _

“What egg thing?”

_ “Huh? Nevermind then.”  _ Hanschen leaned towards the phone.

“No, Georg, tell us about the egg thing.”

_ “Is that Hanschen?” _

“Yeah, he’s here too. Listen, I’ve got a question unrelated to eggs.”

_ “Okay, shoot.” _

“Uh, hm. How should I ask this.” Hanschen shrugged.

“It’s your bet.”

“Okay. Georg, you know Hanschen pretty well, right?”

_ “He could have told you that but yeah, I’d say so.” _

“If he had to marry any character from a video game, who would it be?”

_ “Oh, easy.” _

“Georg, don’t you-” Hanschen was cut off when Ernst shushed him.

_ “Yeah, Hanschen would totally marry Sonic the Hedgehog.” _ Ernst looked at Hanschen with a shocked expression, and Hanschen’s face of surprise matched his.

“Excuse me?” Hanschen said.

_ “Yeah, cuz he’s got all those golden rings. And cuz he wants to marry you, Ernst, and you totally love Sonic, so-” _

“Georg, are you sure you can’t think of anyone else?” They heard his pensive hum through the phone.

_ “Nope, that’s all I can think of.”  _ Hanschen let out a relieved exhale.  _ “Why are you asking me?” _

“No reason,” Ernst replied through gritted teeth as his boyfriend did a smug little dance. “Great talking to you Georg. I’ll see you in class.”

_ “See you in-” _

“It’s not very nice to hang up on friends like that,” Hanschen said sweetly.

“Can it.”

* * *

 

Hanschen was planning to order both his and Ernst’s costumes online (go Amazon Prime!), but unfortunately they were sold out of Bowser costumes that were reasonably priced so he had to go to an  _ actual Party City _ to make the purchase. Luckily, though, he found the costume without too much trouble. He marveled at how empty the store was, especially this close to Halloween, but that meant there was no line when he went to check out.

“Did you find everything all right today?” The cashier asked as he swiped the costume through the scanner. Hanschen spent just a second too long staring at his face. Why did he look so familiar?

“Yeah, I did, thanks.” Hanschen didn’t know why, but he felt the need to explain himself. “This is for my boyfriend.” The cashier raised an eyebrow with mild amusement at Hanschen’s out of the blue confession.

“He likes Bowser?”

“Actually, I’m the one who does. He lost a bet.”

“I see.” Why did Hanschen feel like this cashier was sizing him up? “Well, Bowser’s pretty attractive. Good choice.” Hanschen felt himself blushing.

“Listen, my boyfriend makes fun of me for that enough as it is. He won’t give up on the idea that I have a crush on him.”

“Do you?”

Again, Hanschen felt strangely compelled to tell the truth. “Kind of.” The cashier chuckled a bit as he raised the scanner to the package until it beeped.  _ Hadn’t he already scanned it? _

“Well, I hope you have a good Halloween,” the cashier said, handing Hanschen the costume. Hanschen looked down at the bag and gazed fondly at the picture of Bowser on the front.

“Wait, how much do I-” The cashier had disappeared. Hanschen looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but there was no one else in the store. He shrugged his shoulders. Would the Party City really notice one missing Bowser costume?

* * *

 

“Hanschen, you’re being ridiculous. Let me just put this on myself.”

“You have to wait until it’s complete to see it.”

Ernst sighed. “I know how ridiculous I look already. Let me at least have my eyes open to put the hat on.”

Ernst held out his arms and felt for the soft headpiece - the finishing touch to the costume. True to his promise, he was decked out in the yellow spandex suit and koopa shell that composed the outfit.

“I’ll put it on you,” Hanschen said as he pulled the hat over Ernst’s head. “There, open your eyes.”

But when Ernst’s eyes opened, they were bright orange. “Hanschen... something feels-” Ernst’s entire body began to glow until he was just a huge white mass of light, and then that light settled into the form of something - or  _ someone.  _ “Oh my god, what happened to me?” Despite the fact that the concern on his face was unmistakably Ernst, his words came out in a deep growling rumble -  _ Bowser’s _ deep growling rumble. “Hanschen? Say something.”

Hanschen’s jaw hung open as he gazed up at his boyfriend’s transformation. Ernst was now a seven-foot-tall scaly replica of the Koopa King himself, and Hanschen couldn’t decide whether to be terrified or turned on. Honestly, he was a little bit of both. Ernst frantically looked down at his body and felt his belly, his shell, his hair - anything that might prove this to be some crazy dream.

“Hanschen, please say something because I’m really freaking out right now.” Hanschen looked up at Ernst’s naturally menacing face, and then swung his eyes back down to his Bowser body. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about what I think you’re thinking about.” Hanschen blushed.

“Okay, maybe I  _ do _ have a crush on Bowser.”

“Hanschen!”

“Well, what would you do if your boyfriend just turned into your childhood crush?”

“I don’t know what I’d do, but you’d better decide what you’d do, since your boyfriend is currently a giant monster.” Hanschen bit his lip to keep from commenting on how sexy Ernst’s voice sounded now that it was coming out of Bowser’s mouth.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. We need to figure out how this happened.”

“I don’t care how it happened, I just want to find a way to fix this.”

“Okay, but we need to know  _ why _ you turned into Bowser before we can turn you back into Ernst.”

“I turned into Bowser when you put that costume on me.” Ernst scowled. “This is technically all your fault.”

“Hey, I couldn’t have known that somehow this costume would turn you into Bowser.”

“Yeah, but you could have put me in a costume that was, I don’t know,  _ human!” _

“It’s your own fault for letting me pick your costume.”

“I was sure Georg would know about your Bowser thing.” He took deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m just a little worked up, seeing as I’m suddenly a literal koopa.”

“I’m sorry too, babe.” Hanschen took his boyfriend’s newly gigantic hand and shivered a little when he felt the soft touch of scales.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” He coughed. “So you started transforming when you put the costume on.”

“Yeah.”

“So we can assume that the costume had something to do with it.”

“I guess. Where did you get it? Amazon?”

“No I bought it at -” his eyes widened in realization - “I bought it at the deserted Party City from a guy who disappeared before I could pay for it.”

“You mean I was transformed by a cursed  _ stolen _ Bowser costume?”

“Hey, me stealing the costume means that no one else is gonna turn into Bowser.”

“Yeah, cuz I already turned into Bowser. Let’s go to the Party City.”

“Okay, but how are we going to get there? You’re seven feet tall.”

“You need to put on your costume, too.”

“I don’t want to turn into Mario!”

“At least he’s a human person! Plus that way it looks like I’m dressed up with you. Otherwise a single Bowser roaming the streets might be kind of weird. Then again, it is Halloween.”

“Fine, I’ll wear the Mario costume, if only to make you feel better.”

“My hero,” Ernst deadpanned.

* * *

 

Ten minutes and zero transformations later, Ernst and Hanschen were walking down the streets trying to look as inconspicuous as they could. Fortunately, the Party City was within walking distance of Hanschen’s house, since there was no way Ernst’s new form would fit into Hanschen’s punchbuggy. 

“I feel ridiculous,” Hanschen complained from under his fake mustache.

Ernst didn’t respond, as he was afraid his incredibly deep voice would raise suspicion, but he glared at Hanschen.

“I just hope no one we know sees us.”

“Hanschen?” They both turned around to see a slightly confused Ilse in her pajamas but already wearing her zombie makeup. “And...Ernst?” Ernst nodded.

“He’s saving his voice for trick-or-treating. What’s up?”

“I was just getting ready and I thought I saw you walking by, so I rushed out to make sure we weren’t supposed to meet earlier. Wendla did say five, right?”

“Yeah, Ernst and I wanted to go to the Party City because I remembered them having Mario-themed baskets.”

“Okay, well, have fun. Great costumes, you two!” They waved as Ilse walked back into her house.

“Phew, she bought it.”

“Let’s hurry,” Ernst whispered.

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

 

Once again, the Party City was completely empty.

“I have a bad feeling about this place,” Ernst mentioned as he ducked to fit under the doorway.

“You and me both. If only we could find that cashier, but there’s no one in the building.”

As if on cue, they heard a ding and both turned to see a lone checkout aisle light turn on.

“You!” Hanschen yelled, striding toward the cashier with Ernst following close behind him. The cashier was leaning against the countertop with a lazy smirk on his face. “What the fuck did you do?”

“You mean you don’t like it?” The cashier pouted a little bit, but then his face broke back into a smile. “I thought you’d really appreciate it.”

“Please, just turn me back into a human.” The cashier kept his eyes trained on Hanschen.

“Is that what  _ you _ want?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hanschen, what is he talking about?”

The cashier shrugged. “Think about it, Hanschen. You’re asking me to turn him back because that’s what  _ he _ wants, but what do  _ you _ want?” He nodded his head at Ernst. “I can make him want the same thing.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ve seen the kind of things I can do, Hanschen. Do you think it’s that difficult for me to change your boyfriend’s mind? Make him content to be Bowser forever? Hell, I can make him forget he was ever even human in the first place.”

“You wouldn’t. You couldn’t.”

“Could you really?” Hanschen asked, more in curiosity than awe.

“Like I said, whatever you want.”

Hanschen looked back up at his boyfriend, whose eyebrows were knit together in concern. Yes, he loved Ernst’s body, but did that even compare to the soft belly and green shell of Bowser? Hanschen imagined himself running his hands through the deep red hair every night as he cuddled the massive koopa. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. And after all, Ernst wouldn’t even know.

“Hanschen, you cannot seriously be considering this.” Ernst had massive tears forming in his eyes. “I don’t want to be Bowser forever.”

“But you will,” Hanschen said quietly.

“Hanschen, no,” he pleaded.

“Have you made your decision?”

Hanschen put his arm up to wrap it partways around Ernst’s neck and leaned in to kiss his boyfriend as he knew him one last time. He took off his fake mustache so it wouldn’t get in the way.

“It’ll be okay, Ernst,” he reassured him. And then his lips met Bowser’s cold, lizardy ones and he froze in the kiss. This was not the warm kiss of his boyfriend that he could love and hold. This was the foreign touch of a fantasy, nothing more. He pulled back to see Ernst still crying.

“I changed my mind,” Hanschen announced. “I want Ernst back.” The cashier shrugged.

“As you wish.” He took the scanner and pointed it at Ernst until it beeped, and Ernst again was surrounded in a bright light. The light glowed for a moment and then fell to the floor as if it was being shed, leaving only Ernst in his boxers, but once again human. Hanschen wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s warm body and Ernst cried into his shoulder. He squeezed his arms tighter around Hanschen’s back, grateful for his humanity again.

“Why the fuck did you do that,” Ernst said once he pulled away, his rage directed at the cashier. Somehow he was more menacing now than when he’d been seven feet tall.

“It’s my job,” the cashier replied nonchalantly. “I test where people’s loyalties lie. You’re lucky; Hanschen must love you a lot.”

“You’re evil.”

“No, people are evil. I just give them the choice to do what they secretly desire.”

“Are you saying you’re not a person?” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Happy Halloween.”

“Wait-” but he had already disappeared, leaving them alone in the Party City.

“Hey Hanschen?”

“Yes?”

“You’re never picking my costume again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Heather as well as all of the discord homies for cheering me on & inspiring this.  
> Thanks for getting all the way through that - please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed, and come visit me on tumblr at [thatsilvermagic on tumblr](http://thatsilvermagic.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/slickarus)!


End file.
